Conservation organisations around the world bring incredible rainforest life straight to your home.

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Published on Friday, 19 June 2015

Kalimantan, Indonesia, 18 June 2015

On the 19 June 2015 people across the world won’t need to leave the comfort of their homes to experience the amazing diversity of life found in tropical rainforests.

Conservation organisations will be using social media to share live wildlife sightings from the rainforest, using social media, as part of an exciting initiative: ‘Rainforest: Live 2015’.

Now in its second year, Rainforest: Live is a project initiated by the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project (OuTrop), a research and conservation organisation based in Indonesian Borneo. This year, 16 other tropical conservation organisations will join forces to share their experience of living and working in these beautiful and diverse habitats during this special one-day event.

OuTrop’s Matt Williams explains that “so much of the media coverage of rainforests is negative, concentrating on habitat and species losses. While this is important, Rainforest: Live is designed to focus on the diversity of life in forests and the amazing species that conservationists are fighting to protect. It is to remind us all why they’re worth saving.”

Last year, Rainforest: Live reached several hundreds of thousands of people using the hashtag #rainforestlive on Facebook and Twitter. Sightings of species, from the endangered and iconic orangutan to the colourful and spectacular hornbill, were shared with followers.

Gavin Thurston, OuTrop Patron and wildlife filmmaker said “through my career as a wildlife cameraman I have been fortunate enough to visit and film in some splendid rainforests. It is an environment that I feel remarkably at home in and am constantly surprised and thrilled by the hidden beauty and complexity of life that has evolved to live and thrive there.”

“I realise that not everyone is lucky enough to visit a rainforest in their lifetime so I am delighted that Rainforest: Live will give many people the opportunity to experience this incredible and diverse world,” said Thurston. “I’m excited to see what wildlife will show up live from the rainforest.”

Quinn Meyer, Founder of The crees Foundation, said “It's great to see the power of social media being able to take fragile and threatened ecosystems and bring them into daily life on a global scale in a positive light; we need to hear the good news and more often.”

Helen Buckland, Director of the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) says "This event allows people to join a virtual expedition to conservation field sites all over the world. We are excited to welcome people to our rainforest restoration project in Sumatra, from where we'll be sharing live sightings of wildlife that's returning to this once-barren landscape, now buzzing with life! It's an innovative way to show real conservation impact and inspire people to get behind grassroots conservation action."

Jess McKelson, a Board Member of The Orangutan Project, said “We are excited to be involved with OUTrop initiative as we can also showcase the beauty from Sumatra direct from the field. The diversity across Indonesias islands and where we are all working to learn more and also conserving the remaining habitat.”

Thirza Loffeld, Education and Advocacy Coordinator for Selamatkan Yaki mentioned that “though the Indonesian island Sulawesi knows many endemic species, a large number of the local communities here are not aware of the unique wildlife that they share the island with. During Rainforest: Live, alongside other organisations, Selamatkan Yaki will take the opportunity to give the public insight in the life of Macaca nigra, locally known as yaki, from Tangkoko Nature Reserve in North Sulawesi. This beautiful reserve holds the largest connected population of this Critically Endangered primate species across its native range, in addition to many other unique species of wildlife."

To follow the event, simply click onto the Facebook or Twitter page of the participating organisations on the 19th June 2015, look out for the hashtag #rainforestlive and it will provide a window to a beautiful, but threatened, world.

Notes to the Editors

Rainforest: Live was developed by the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project (OuTrop); a conservation and research organisation established in 1999. OuTrop is dedicated to helping to protect Borneo’s biodiversity through conservation-orientated research, capacity building, education and on-the-ground conservation projects (www.outrop.com | www.facebook.com/OuTrop | twitter.com/outrop).